Coiling machine



COILING MACHINE Filed July 15. 1928 2 sheets-sheet 1 Aug. 3o, 1932. c, J; .BBQNS 1,874,280

COILING MACHINE Filed July l5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented. Aug. 30, 1932 CHARLES J. QIBBONS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONECTICUT COILING MACHINE Application ledvvJuly 13,

This invention relates to a ceiling machine to be used at the delivery end of rolling mills folilcoiling the strip of metal as it leaves the m1 v At the presenttime a series of rollersare used for bending a strip of metal to form it into a coil after the breakingdown or rough- -ing passes, but on the finishing passes reels or pulling drums are ordinarily used as so lo far as I am aware, up to the present time no coiler using rollers has been constructed which will coil the metal without scratching or marring the surface. Especially is this true on the finishing passes of high class nickel plated or other high class materials, and materials that require a bright iinished surface. Even wherethey are used for the roughing or breaking down passes there are times when the pits and scratches from these ceiling machines show up on the surfaces of the metal in the last finishing passes and cause very heavy rejections. The larger manufacturers of today are handling very heavy coils, these coils running from 500 g5 pounds to 2'tons, whereas formerly the average coil ran from 100 to 300 pounds. It can, therefore, be readily seen that considerable diiiiculty is experienced in handling the large coils on drums or reels.

The principal reason why the coiling rolls marred the surface of the metal was because in these machines it was necessary that the surface speed of the coilingv rolls should be greater than the material being coiled, thus causing the surfaces of the metal being rolled and the rolls to stick together or adhere. It was necessary to drive the rollers at greater surface speed than the material being coiled in order to take up theslack between the coilerV and the rolling mill and to pull the metal out straight from the rolls of the mill. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a coiler for coiling this metal as it leaves the rolling mill which will not mar the surface of the metal even though it may have a bright smooth finish, and which will also be capable of 'handling' large coils.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a coiler with automatic means for regulating the surface speed of the coiling rolls 192s. serial No. 292,494.

so that this speed is the same as the surface speed of the metal being coiled, and therefore, prevents relative sliding movements between the contacting surfaces to prevent marring of the surface of the metal being coiled.

It is another object of the invention to provide`a coiler in which, should there be some sliding movement between the surfaces it will not mar this surface.

It is stillanother object of the invention to provide an improved device for holding` the coil which will facilitate removal of the coil from the machine.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a construction in which, although 05 the surface speed of the coiling rolls is practically the same as that of the metal being coiled, still the slack between the coiler and the rolling mill will at all times be taken up anl1 the metal drawn out straight from the 70 m1 With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully '75 described in ,connection with the accompanying drawings. In these drawings,'

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical v iew showing the relative arrangement of the main elements of the coiling machine with respect to each other and the rolls of the rolling mill.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the coiling machine, certain parts being broken away to more clearly show the construction.

Fi 3 ris a front elevation thereof with 85 certain parts broken away to more clearly show the construction.

Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation of the cradle for carrying the coil, and

Fig. 5 is a detail of the adjustable drive 00 control.

Referring to Fig. 1, 10 represents the two rolls vof a rolling mill of any suitable size and construction for rolling a strip of metal 11 which is to be coiled after it passes be- 95 tween the rolls. The ceiling machine illustrated comprises two inch or controlrolls 12 and 13 and three'coiling rolls 14, 15 and 16, although the number of ceiling rolls may 1 be any number found desirable. These three rolls operate in the usual manner to bend the metal strip 11 as it passes between them and causes it to roll into a coil 17. In the old forms of coilers, as these coiling or bending rolls were necessarily driven at a greater surface speed than the speed .of the strip being coiled in order to prevent formation of slack between these rolls and the rolling mill rolls, these coiling rol'ls slipped on the metal strip marring the surface thereof, as indicated above. I overcome this by automatically driving these rolls at the same surface speed as the strip being coiled, the speed of these rolls being controlled 'by the pinch or control rolls 12 and 13 which latter rolls-also take up the slack and prevent its formation as the metal leaves the mill 10. I accomplish this by pinching or clamping the rolls 12 and 13 on opposite sides of the strip with suiiicient pressure so that they could put a greater tension on the strip without slipping than is required for pulling the metal from the mill, and gearing these rolls directly to the coiling rolls 14, 15 and 16 so that, therefore, as theV rolls 12 and 13 do not slip on the metal the surface speed of the coiling rolls 14, 15 and 16 is always automatically maintained the same as the surface speed of the metal being coiled. The rolls 12 and 13 are driven by a slip drive which tends to drive these rolls at a greater speed than the speed of the strip 11, but will slip before imparting sufficient force to cause the rolls 12 and 13 to slip on the metal. These rolls will, therefore, take up the slack and draw the metal strip straight from the mill 10 but they will not be driven with suiiicient force to slip on the metal 11 and will automatically maintain the coiling rolls at the proper surface speed.

In the specific construction shown for carrying out this operation the rolls 12 to 16 are mounted betweensuitable frames or housings 18 carried on a stand 19. The two pinch or control rolls 12 and 13 are geared together through the gears 20, 21, 22 and 23. The coiling roll 14 is driven by a gear 24 meshing with gear21, and/gear 24 meshes with an idler 25 meshing with a gear 26 on the shaft of the roll 15. The roll 16 is driven from this gear through the two idler gears 27 and 28 which latter gear meshes with a gear 29 on the shaft of the roller 16. The rollers 12 to 16 are, therefore, all geared together and the ratios of the gears are such that these rolls are all driven at the same surface speed.

It is desirable that the rolls l2 and 13 have relative adjustment to accommodate different gauges of metal and also to adjust the pressures on the strip being coiled. In the resent construction the upper roll 13 has bearings at its opposite ends in bearing blocks 30 mounted for vertical sliding movement in the guideways 31 in the housing or frame 18, and may be adjusted vertically by the screws 32 threaded into nuts or sleeves 33 in the housings secured to gears 34 and may be rotated thereby. Each gear 34 meshes with an idler 35 connected to a second gear 36 on an upright shaft 37 driven by means of a worm ear 38 meshing with a worm 39 which may e operated by a hand crank or other suitable lneans 40. A releasable clutch 41 may be provided on each shaft 37 between the worm gear 38 and the shaft to form a releasable drive, the clutch being capable of release by the lever 42 operating an eccentric pin 43. Through this adjusting mechanism pressure between the rolls 12 and 13 may be set at anything desired and the rolls brought into proper relation to each other. In order to maintain the proper positive drive between the two rolls the gears 21 and 22 are carried by the links 44 while the gears 22 and 23 are connected by links 45. Thus during the adjusting movements of the roll 13 gears 21, 22 and 23 are always maintained in proper mesh as the distances between their centers are maintained constant by the links 44 and 45.

It is also desirable that the relative positions of the coiling rolls 14, 15 and 16 be adjustable, especially the central coiling roll 16 with respect to the other two rolls. For this urpose, therefore, the roll 16 is carried in suitable bearing blocks 46 similar to those of the roll 13 and mounted to slide vertically in guideways 47 in the housings or frames 18. These blocks may be adjusted by screws 49 threaded into sleeves or nuts 50 each operated by a beveled gear 51 meshing with a beveled gear 52 with a shaft 53 driven by beveled gears 54 from an upright shaft 55 operated through Va suitable worm and gear drive 56 by a crank or other suitable means 57. To always maintain the gears 26, 27, 28 and 29 in proper mesh 'the two gears 27 and 28 are connected by the links 58 while the two gears 28 and 29 are connected by the links 59. Thus as the upper roll 16 is adjusted distances between the centers of lthese gears are always maintained constant by these links and the gears are always in proper mesh. This arrangement of gear drivesv reduces the floor space required and also the cost of the machine.

The rolls 12 to 16 are driven through a slip drive shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 5. This drive comprises a slipping clutch including a driving member 74 and a driven member 75 which have complementary tapered bearings one of which, as the inner or driven member 75, is covered with a suitable friction facing 76. The driving member 74 is driven from any suitable source of power as a motor 77 through a pinion 7 8 as the driv ing member 74 may include a gear 7 9 meshmg with the pinion, or it may be driven from the rolling mill. The driven member 75 is held in frictional engagement with the driving member 74 by any suitable means. In' the form shown a collar 80 is mounted on the hub of the driven member 75 and the hub may rotate in this collar. This collar is connected to a fork 81 pivoted at 82 to one of the housings 18 and there is a roller thrust bearing 83 between the collar and the driven member 75. A similar roller thrust bearing 84 is provided on the shaft 85 at the other side of the driving member 74 between this member and the collar 86 mounted on the shaft. The driven member 75 is splined on the shaft 85, as indicated at 87, so that this driven member will drive the shaft, and the member 74 is free'or rotatable on this shaft. The driven member 75 is held in engagement with the driving member 74 by a Ispring 88 connected at one end to the left hand housing and at its other end to an 'arm 89 of the fork 81,

and the tension of this spring maybe adjusted by the screw and nuts 90.`

To receive and hold the metal strip as it is being coiled and to facilitate the coiling operation `I have provided an improved cradle for carrying the roll 17 as it is being formed. This cradle comprises side arms 60 pivoted between the two housings or frames 18 on the shaft 61. f These arms carry between them transverse guide rollers 62, 63 and 64 for movable chains or belts 65 and one of these rollers, as the roller 62, is driven to givethe proper speed to the chains or belts 65 to tend to roll the coil 17 in the proper direction or clockwise, as viewed in the figures in the drawing. This drive comprises a chain and sprocket drive 66 between the roll 62 and the sprocket 67 which is driven by a chain 68 from a sprocket 69 on the shaft for the roll 12. It will be apparent that through this drive the upper side of the chain 65 will move to the left as viewed in Figs. 2 and 4, and as the coil 17 rests on these chains or belts it will be rotated to the right or clockwise at the proper speed to prevent formation of slack between the coil and the coilin rolls 14, 15 and 16. The cradle also inclu es upright guides 70 at the opposite side edges of the coil to maintain this coil in proper position and these guides are adjustably mounted on transverse rods 71 carried by the arms 60 so that the guides may be` adjusted for different widths of metal. They may vbe se- 'cured in adjusted positions by the clamps 7 2. The chains or belts 65 are also adjustable on their rollers for the same purpose.

The cradle is normally in its upper` position, as shown in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 4, to facilitate removal of the coil 17 after it is completed. This cradle is mounted so that its lower or forward end may be dropped to permit the coil to be rolled out of the machine. As shown in Fig. 4, it is normally held in the elevated or full linev position by cams 73 which may support the side arms 60. Byswinging these cams through suitable mechanism, not shown, the cradle 60 ma be dropped to the dotted line osition of ig. 4 permitting the coil 17 to e rolled olf the front end thereof and easily removed from the machine.

In operation the spring 88 is set to impart the desired pressure to the driven member 75 depending on the pull desired on the strip 11 being coiled, and this pressure is made so that the clutch 74--7 5 will slip bcfore the pinch or control rolls 12 and 13 will slip on the metal. Merely by way illustration we will assume it is desirable to have a 500 pound pull on the strip 11. The pinch or control rolls 12 and 13 are, therefore, set f to pinch the strip with suflicient force so that they will not slip at this tension. We will lassume, for example, that they are set'witlr sufficient pressure so that they will not slip until the pull is 1000 pounds. The spring 88 for the clutch is, therefore, set so that the clutch will transmit sufficient power to Cause the rolls 12 and 13 to give a 500 pound pull on the strip. The driving member 74, however, is driven at a greater speed than is desirable for the rolls 12 and 13. This may be anything desired. From 1% to 30% has been found satisfactory. Therefore, as the clutch has been set to transmit sui'icient power to cause the rolls 12 and 13 to give a 500 pound pull on the strip 11 the clutch will shp constantly because the rolls 12` and 13 are capable of transferring more than 500 pounds without slipping. Therefore, the rolls 12 and `13 take up and prevent formation of slack between these rolls and the mill rolls 10 drawing the strip 11 out straight, and as 4the rolls 12 and 13 do not slip on the stri their surface speed is the same as the surface speed of this strip, and therefore, as the coiling rolls 14, 15 and 16 are so geared to th'e rolls 12 and 13 as to have the same surface speed these -coiling rolls will have the same surface speed as theistrip and will coil this strip without marring or scratching the surface thereof. This device,

therefore, automatically prevents slack in the strip being rolled, draws it out straight to the proper tension and automatically drives the ceiling rolls at the same surface speed as the strip being coiled regardless of the speed at which the strip comes from the rolling mill. It will be understood that the driving clutch tends to drive the pinch or gy rial depending on the adjustment and the 1 pull desired.

I also mayause this device for pulling the for rolling mill, Serial No. 278,385, filed May 17, 1928. In this arrangement the work rolls 10 are driven by a `one-way drive, for example, pawls 91 engaging ratchets 92 connected to the rolls 10, the pawls 91 being driven by any suitable means as gears 93 driven from any suitable source of power. The work rolls 10 are driven by the pawl and ratchet drive to start the strip through the rolls at the beginning of the rolling operation and for a sufficient length to pass the end between the pinch rolls 12 and 13. As these pinch rolls 12 and 13 are driven at a higher surface speed than the work rolls 10 they will pull the strip through the work rolls as the pawl and ratchet drives will permit the work rolls to rotate at a greater speed than the drive gears 93. Thus the main rolling operation is done while the strip is being drawn through the work rolls by the pinch rolls 12 and 13. It will, of course, be understood that the pinch rolls will at the same time control the speed of the coiling rolls 'au 14, 15 and 16 and maintain their surface speed the same as that of the strip being rolled and coiled.

It is preferred that the necks of the pinch or control rolls 12 and 13 be mounted in roller bearings as indicated at 94, and also that the necks of the coiling rolls 14, l5 and 16 be mounted in roller bearings, as indicated at 95. This typ of mounting requires less power and gives smoother and better operation.

I also prevent marring of the surface should there be some slippage between these rolls and the strip by making the rolls of a material which would not stick or adhere to the metal of the strip even though there should be some slippage. For instance, in coiling strips of steel the coiling rolls may be made of a non-ferrous metal, such as brass, bronze, Monel metal or the like, metal commonly used as a bearing metal. These metals will slip on the steel without marring the surface thereof. So far as I am aware I am the first to revent this marring by using rolls of nonerrous alloys or metals for the coiling rolls. These non-ferrous rolls can be used in the old type of coiler, and their use will greatly reduce or eliminate marring or scratching of the surface of the metal being coiled. Still further these bronze or nonferrous rolls when used for coiling steel strips will not wear as fast as steel rolls would, because of the reduced friction.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a coiler for use with `rolling mills, a

pair of rolls to engage opposite sides of a strip of metal as it leaves the mill, means for laterally shifting one of the rolls relative to the other, driving gears for the respective rolls, a pair of gears each meshin with one of the respective driving gears and with each other, stationary bearings for the gear meshing with the driving gear of the stationary roll, coiler rolls driven from the said gear having stationary bearings, links connecting the pair of gears to maintain their centers, at a given distance, and separate links between the gear for the movable roll and the gear meshing therewith to maintain their centers at a given distance in all positions of the roll.

,2. In a coiler for use with rolling mills, a plurality of rolls to bend a strip coming from the mill to form it into a coil, a cradle associated with said rolls to support the coil while it is being formed, said cradle being hinged adjacent its rear end so that its forward end may swing up and down and including one or more endless belts or chains to support the coil, means for driving said endless members to rotate the Coil, and supporting means for the free end of the cradle capable of lowering this end to permit removal of the coil and then rasing the cradle to normal position.

3. In a coiler for use with rolling mills, a plurality of rolls to bend a strip coming from the mill to form it into a coil, a cradle associated with said rolls to support the coil while it is being formed, said cradle being hinged adjacent its rear end so that its forward end may swing up and down and including one or more endless belts 0r chains to support the coil, means for driving said endless members to rotate the coil, and supporting means for the free end of the cradle and corresponding end of the belt or chain capable of lowering these ends to permit the removal of the coil and then raising the cradle and chain or belt to normal position.

4. In a device of the character described, a a pair off work rolls, a positive one-way drive for one of the rolls, a setlof rolls for bending strip to form it into a coil as it leaves the mill, pinch rolls for gripping the strip and having a connection with the coiling rolls capable of regulating their surface speed, and means for driving said pinch rolls including means tending to drive the rolls at a greater surface speed than the strip but of power insuiiicient to cause the rolls to slip on the strip, said driving means being adjultable for diii'erent pressures of the pinch ro s.

5. In a coiler for use with rolling mills, coiling rolls for coiling a strip as it leaves the mill, a pair of control rolls, adjustable means for pressing the control rolls on opposite sides of the strip to vary the pressure of these rolls on the strip, means for driving the control rolls including a friction clutch insufcient to overcome the friction of the rolls on the strip, said friction clutch being adjustable for dierent pressures of said control rolls, means for driving the driving member of the clutch so that the clutch will slip during normal operation, and a driving connection between the control rolls and the coiling rolls capable of maintaining the surface speed of `the coiling rolls the same as io that of the control rolls.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

CHARLES J. GIBBONS.

till: 

